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Monday, April 26, 2010

The Saint John Seadogs will take on Moncton in this years Presidents Cup Final after a 7-1 win over Victoriaville to take the semi-final in six.

Marco Couseinau made 31 saves and Mike Hoffman notched a hat-trick in leading the attack. Head Coach Gerard Gallant says it was the flat game in the series for him but his team took advantage when it had to. This is the first all Maritime Final since the league was born in 1969.

Tickets for the final go on sale tomorrow at ten at the Harbour Station box office but no word yet on when Game One will be but the series will open in Saint John.

The news close to 36,000 people east of the Reversing Falls Bridge have been waiting for has arrived........the boil water order has been lifted.

Saint John Water staff have reviewed test results taken since Friday with the Department of Health and all have come back clean.

The boil order was put in place on Friday when a valve was left open at the Latimore Lake Treatment facility and chlorine gas failed to treat water for about 15 minutes with 2.1 million untreated litres entering the system.

14 recommendations have been laid out as Saint John continues to move ahead with it's new Municipal Plan.

Deputy Commissioner of Planning Jaqueline Hamilton says so far she is very impressed with the feed-back including one to grow the city smarter.

Other recommendations include a priority on urban design, celebrate arts, heritage and culture and improve quality of life. So far, there have been 400 hits to the Plan SJ website, ten presentations to community groups and over 170 letters have been received. The next public workshop is scheduled for June.

After hearing about it for weeks, Premier Graham and five of his ministers will leave for Ottawa tomorrow to meet with Prime Minister Harper.

Graham says there needs to be better co-operation between this Province and the Nations Capital on several fronts. A few of the items being brought to the table include cost over-runs during the refurbishment at Point Lepreau and funding for the Harbour Bridge.

Graham has stated Atomic Energy of Canada made a commitment to have the work done at Point Lepreau during a certain time-frame and if necessary, would not hesitate to bring this matter before a judge.

The latest numbers have been released by Fredericton on how many people are working for the Provincial Government. It provides statistical information about key characteristics of the government's workforce, as of the final day of the year.

There were 39,802 full-time permanent employees working on Dec. 31, 2009. The public service how-ever will experience a significant reduction in the size of its workforce this spring, when about 1,800 Community College employees will be removed from their umbrella to form its own organization as a separate employer.

The union representing sheet metal workers in Greater Saint John continue their drive for a raise. A picket line with a dozen people is set up at the Potash Mine in Pennobsquis today.

A member of the Electrical Workers Union 502 tells CHSJ News, he and many of his co-workers are refusing to cross the line. The sheet metal workers union is 347 and one member told us last week he couldn't get into specifics of what kind of money it is looking for.

Pat Darrah with the Saint John Construction Association says sheet metal workers are making $32.24 an hour and in Moncton, they make $29.25.

Darrah says they want to level the playing field so that contractors can work in both areas and stay competitive.

The Stomp Out Violence Cross Country Run comes to Saint John with Dr. Roz Roach completing a 20 kilometer run beginning at Rockwood Park to raise awareness about a problem many people feel is getting worse. Dr. Roach tells CHSJ News violence among young people can be traced, in part, to the breakdown of communities which has done a disservice to the well being of our your people. Dr. Roach says there are all kinds of violence including gun play, child molestation, abuse of women, racism and homophobia. Dr. Roach, who runs Dr. Roz's Healing Place in the Tornto suburb of Scarborough, says too many young people are trying to cope with adolescent conflicts in isolation or within their peer groups which makes joining a gang so alluring.

Police Chief Bill Reid says he's disgusted by the damage caused by vandals to headstones at St. Joseph's cemetery. The Chief is promising this will be investigated thoroughly and hopefully brought to a successful conclusion with those responsible charged in court even there can never really be a successful conclusion because the damage has already been done.Chief Reid condemns the behaviour of those responsible as callous to those people who have loved ones in the cemetery and an embarrassment to the city.

Kennebecasis Valley High won both the Intermediate and Senior titles at the Provincial Reach for the Top Championships held over the weekend. This was the school's fifth straight intermediate title and sixth consecutive senior crown. K-V-H-S will be taking part in late May in the national seniors championship in Toronto.

If everything goes according to plan, Saint John Water should be able to lift a boil water order by this afternoon. It has been in affect for homes and businesses east of the Rversing Falls Bridge since Friday morning. Dr. Scott Giffen is the District Medical Officer of Health and says the City has done everything by the book. The boil water order is not in place for Millidgeville and had to be implemented after a valve was left open and chlorine gas failed to treat the water for about 15 minutes with 2.1 million litres entering the system.

Equal Voice is issuing a challenge directly to Provincial Party Leaders.....find more female candidates for the election September.27th. Lisa Merrithew is spokes-person and tells CHSJ News, there is no easy answer as to why more women aren't involved. Merrithew does say there are external barriers within the parties. During the last Provincial Election, 15 of the 48 NDP candidates were women, 10 of the 55 Liberal candidates were women and only 8 off the 55 candidates for the Conservatives were women. One of the longest serving MLA's in the province is Rothesay Conservative Margaret Ann Blaney. She tells CHSJ News, there has been a sharp decline in the number of women participating in the democratic process period. She adds there are currently eight women nominated and ready to run in the fall election for the Conservatives which matches the number of women the party had in 2006.

People looking to get building and land permits approved in Saint John may soon find it a lot easier. The City is holding a public hearing during tonight's meeting of Common Council to discuss possible amendments to the Community Planning Act. The Act currently makes it so any permit requests must go through the provincial Planning Advisory Committee before being approved. Changes would allow minor permits to be passed by the local Development Officer, cutting some time out of the process. Moncton, Frederiction, Miramichi and Rothesay will use the same system.